1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a dish holder and in particular to a dish holder having pivoting fences which form various configurations to support various types of dishes having large and small diameters and large and small depths.
2. Description of Related Art
Dish holders or racks such as those used in dishwashers should accommodate articles to be held in a manner which is efficient in its use of space in order to maximize the capacity of the dishwasher. The dish holders should also accommodate various types and sizes of articles from use to use. In some cases the dishwasher may be loaded with small diameter and small depth articles such as saucers. In other cases the dishwasher may be loaded with large diameter and/or large depth articles such as dinner plates, large bowls, or platters. In yet other cases the dishwasher may be loaded with small diameter and large depth articles such as small bowls. Additionally, the dishwasher may be loaded with drinking glasses or cups. Several dish holders have evolved to alleviate the problem of efficiently loading the variously shaped articles.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,437, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, discloses a rack for a dishwasher. The rack includes a succession of aligned pairs of dish holding elements of alternate configuration. One element is an upwardly extending straight finger and the other element is diverging and substantially shorter than the finger. While the pivoted dividers may accommodate articles of varying depths, they do not accommodate articles of varying diameter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,464, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, discloses a pivoted divider. The pivoted divider includes "dog-leg" shaped pins and is pivotable between upright and folded down positions. While the pivoted dividers may accommodate articles of varying diameters, they do not accommodate articles of varying depth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,185, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, discloses a pair of pivoting dividers. Each divider includes two sets of pegs which are designed to hold first and second types of dishes. The pair of dividers pivot between first and second positions to selectively support the first and second types of dishes. While the pivotable dividers may accommodate articles of varying diameters, they do not accommodate articles of varying depth.
The cost of manufacture of any consumer item manufactured in great numbers, such as dishwashers, is of great significance and therefore any dish holder must be relatively simple and easily manufactured so as to minimize the costs involved. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dish holder that has a relatively low cost of manufacture, that provides increased load capacity of the dish washer, and accommodates dishes of various types having large and small diameters and large and small depths.